Commercial aircraft flights try to avoid areas of severe turbulence as turbulence has a negative impact on passenger comfort, passenger safety, and equipment/airframe integrity. Systems, using sensors, try to forecast and predict areas of strong/severe turbulence based on the sensing of atmospheric conditions. Also, when an airplane passes through areas with turbulence, pilots communicate verbal reports about the turbulence which are then passed along through air traffic control or the airline's control center. Improved accuracy for characterizing turbulence would allow commercial aircraft an improved probability of avoiding severe turbulence as well as minimizing unnecessary and/or inefficient avoidance maneuvers.